Abstract
This study was undertaken to investigate the information needs and information seeking behavior of farmers in Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study used questionnaire as the data collection instrument while simple statistics – frequency table and percentages were used for analyzing the data. 300 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to respondents across 10 communities (Ilesa-Baruba, Okuta, Yashikira, Sinawu, Kosubosu, Gure, Boriya, Kuburufu, Gwanara And Chikanda) making a total of 300 respondents. while 272 copies representing 91% were returned and found useful for the study. Findings from the study revealed that the greatest information need of farmers in Baruten Local Government was information on credit facilities which had a mean value of 3.61. this was followed by information on new farming methodologies and marketing of farm produce which had mean value of 3.59 respectively. When seeking for information, the respondents preferred to seek out information from the professional associations. The greatest challenge faced by the respondents when seeking for information was language barrier and financial challenges which had mean values of 3.84 and 3.74 respectively. Finally, appropriate recommendations such as provision of information resources in the local language an increase in the number of extension workers, as well as the provision of good internet facilities were suggested to solve the challenges highlighted by the study.
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